It's something we pride ourselves on at West Ham; our incredible production line that is The Academy of Football - which continues to produce quality young talent year in year out.
Mark Noble - our longest serving player and the only one remaining from our previous play-off winning team - was named Hammer of The Year last night and deservedly so, followed closely by fellow academy graduate James Tomkins.
The pair have been ever present in the squad this season and it's no surprise that the two were also named in the PFA Championship team of the year. Mark Noble has racked up a tally of 9 goals during this campaign - the most he's ever scored in a season - largely thanks to his impressive 100% success rate from the spot scoring all 8 penalties presented to him, many of which proved decisive in earning us all three points in tough games.
Despite being a centre back, James Tomkins has also scored his fair share of goals, mostly from set pieces as his towering presence at the back post is first class and when he doesn't find the back of the net himself, he very often helps one of his team-mates do so with his knock-downs and pull backs from such set pieces.
The pair have been reliable and consistent to say the least this season and being voted the top 2 players by the fans will surely boost their already sky high confidence. Mark Noble has been something of a fan favourite since making his debut at Chelsea in a cup tie during the 2004/05 season and James Tomkins is certainly following his team-mate's example. I have absolutely no doubt that Tomkins has the ability to be a top quality player at the highest level so the fact that he recently signed a 5 year contract is fantastic news and he has also stated his desire to play in the Barclay's Premier League with West Ham.
I, and I imagine every other West Ham fan, hope that they both stay with us for a long, long time as both have already shown incredible commitment to the hammers in their short but bright careers so far.
They haven't been the only academy graduates to have made a name for themselves this season though, as Danny Potts made his debut at the tender age of just 17 in the 1-0 home victory over Barnsley in December having only signed a professional contract the night before. The young full-back was called into action when Abdoulaye Faye was injured in the warm up forcing the players' player of the year George McCartney to move into the middle of defence allowing young Potts to slot in at left-back. The American had an outstanding game in front of the Upton Park faithful under the lights and caused uproar among a 30,000+ crowd when Kevin Nolan was named man of the match as many thought the youngster deserved the acclaim more having kept his cool when under pressure where many young players would have crumbled.
Overall, although Big Sam is often criticised for overlooking youth, I think it has been a very good season for the development of our young players - who are potentially the future of our great football club - as Rob Hall has also looked sharp when he's featured this season. Let's hope our seemingly endless production of young, exiting talents carries on because if we can keep hold of most of them, the future most certainly looks bright!
COME ON YOU IRONS!
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